6 Software Tools you Need for your Virtual Accounting Practice

As an accountant, your aim is to provide your clients with the best service. With virtual practices becoming more common, more and more accounting and tax firms are adopting new technologies to improve their processes. In fact, 90% of accountants feel that there is a cultural shift in accountancy that leans toward technological adoption, and 91% of accountants have reported that accounting technology has increased their productivity (Sage, 2019).  

If you hire a contractor for home renovations you’d expect them to use the right tools. Software and technology are an accountant’s tools.

By selecting the best tools for your practice, you can:

• automate processes, 
• reduce errors,  
• enhance quality, 
• improve team collaboration, 
• and save time so that you can take on more clients (or relax!)

Recommended Software Tools 

Extend your client base without working more hours

Below is a list of 6 software tools that can help improve your services and take your accounting practice to the next level. 

1. Dext (previously Receipt Bank) for Expense Tracking

Are your clients still bringing you ‘shoe boxes’ of receipts? If you’re tired of manually entering receipts and invoices, try out Dext. Dext simplifies the process of entering receipts by automatically converting scanned pictures and documents into transactions. 

You can still charge your same fees, and accomplish the work in half the time! 

Simply set up an account for your clients and have them send in all their invoices. Dext extracts all the information and publishes it in your accounting software for you, saving you the time and reducing mistakes from manual entry. Save yourself the stress of manually inputting data and use Dext to simplify your expense tracking process. 

‍Alternatives to Receipt Bank

Hubdoc 
Hubdoc’s main feature is it’s bank and statement fetching capability. However, it also has the ability to extract data from receipts and push that into the cloud accounting software.

AutoEntry
AutoEntry saves time by eliminating the manual data entry process, and is able to accurately extract data from receipts, invoices, bills, expenses, supplier statements and bank statements. 

2. Wagepoint for Payroll Processing

Payroll processing can be a very demanding and time-consuming task. With manual processing, accountants often risk making costly calculation errors, missing important tax payments, or late reporting. With Wagepoint, you don’t have to worry about making mistakes, as the software will simplify the payroll process for you.

Wagepoint is uniquely tailored to suit the needs of small business owners. Wagepoint calculates the amounts owed to employees, vacation pay, workers’ compensation, and several additional payroll deductions for you. With the help of Wagepoint, you’ll be able to eliminate the burden of calculating and recording payroll, which will allow you to save time and improve the efficiency of your payroll process.

Alternatives to Wagepoint 

Patriot Payroll
‍Patriot Payroll streamlines the processes of managing payroll payments and tax submissions. The software provides tools to maintain payroll records, print checks, establish direct deposits, generate payroll reports and submit state and federal taxes.

OnPay
‍OnPay automates tax filing and payment workflows, and includes key features such as employee self-onboarding, automated payroll taxations and scheduled pay runs.

3. Plooto for Processing Payments

Streamline your A/P and A/R

Managing accounts payable and accounts receivable workflows can be a hassle. Manually sorting through large amounts of paperwork to keep track of cash flows is a tedious task that is prone to error. With Plooto, you can eliminate the tedious paperwork and manual tracking.

By automating accounts payable and accounts receivable workflows, Plooto significantly reduces the time spent processing payments. With the real-time payment tracking feature, you’ll never have to worry about where the money is, or when it will arrive. Satisfied customers have reported that using Plooto has reduced their AP and AR processes from 5 hours to as short as 10 minutes per week, and has saved over 40 hours a month. With Plooto in your toolbox, managing accounts payable and accounts receivables will no longer be a hassle as the software will make your process more efficient, streamlined, and profitable. 

4. Corvee for Tax Planning

Offer tax planning services in half the time

Your firm probably offers tax preparation services, but have you considered offering high-value tax planning? With Corvee, you can expand your tax planning services and bring more value to your clients by creating tailored tax plans.

Corvee is a tax planning software that can offer high quality analysis and recommendations based on your clients situation.  With Corvee, accountants can speed up the tax planning process by scanning their clients’ tax returns, collecting vital information via custom questionnaires, estimating tax savings, and preparing tax plan proposals for their clients, all within a few minutes. Corvee allows you to analyze hundreds of tax planning strategy combinations.

5. Zoho Invoice for Invoicing

Become an invoicing master and save time

Crafting professional invoices which are accurate and display your client’s brand are important for building trust. However, invoicing can be a painstaking task that often takes up a lot of time. 

Save yourself the trouble of spending hours going back and forth re-entering information on a spreadsheet. With Zoho Invoice, users can save time and complete their invoicing accurately and efficiently. 

The software’s functions include sending invoices for projects and customer expenses, receiving payments, and tracking the overall health of your business quickly and efficiently. Zoho allows you to send invoices via SMS and emails while keeping track of clients’ invoice status, and following-up with automated payment reminders. Satisfied customers have reported that Zoho has helped them save upto 4 hours per client.

‍Alternative‍

Invoice2go
Invoice2go is an all-in-one tool that helps business owners manage customer relationships, send invoices, accept payments, improve cash flow, and create an online presence. 

 6. ClientTable for Communication and File-Sharing

A client portal is like a ‘virtual office’ for clients which streamlines your communications

Your client’s experience, the process and ease of communication is as important as delivering quality work. Just as you may have an office space for clients to visit in-person, a client portal is your virtual office for clients to visit on the web. Using ClientTable, you can provide a friction-free, fully branded client experience through a secure client portal. 

By using ClientTable, you can engage your clients directly through your own website portal. Securely obtain and share information with your clients while having your files stored directly in your connected Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox account. Avoid insecure email and a cluttered inbox by using the built-in secure chat-style messaging system for easy communication.

Your portal is accessible to you and clients anywhere on the web and is optimized for mobile, desktop, and tablet. You can allow your clients self-serve access to their information anytime, anywhere.  

Save your time by improving communications and organization with our secure client portal. 

Enhance your services and see tangible results 

With the rise of virtual accounting, finding the right technological tools is necessary to gain a competitive advantage in the market and provide quality service to clients.  Whether you want to increase your profitability, get back your time or improve quality, the right tools can help you succeed in the long run.